Code: Knight
by anyabar1987
Summary: Reuploaded Sarah Graimen has a brother who is a tech genius and he goes to Kadic Academy in France. what happens when he stumbles into the secrets of Aelita's past
1. Chapter 1

"Daddy, can I go out and play in the garage with 'Ita?" A young girl said running in through the doors.

"Sarah, does Bonnie want you out there? The garage is her work space and I am sure she doesn't want you playing rough around KITT?"

"I know, I know we are supposed to stay out of the way when it comes to your business with FLAG." Sarah frowned as she looked at the mansion which was the headquarters.

"Exactly, seven-year-old girls have no place in a maintenance garage playing around the very expensive equipment that is kept there." The man replied.

Just then a woman knocked on the door, "Charles, I told her it was alright, they aren't going to be playing rough. I promised the two little ones that once they were in first grade they could help me in the garage."

"If you say it is alright, Bonnie, then take her for as long as you want." Charles said holding his hands up, "I only deal with the programming issues."

"Though you can do a fair part with your mechanic skills, more than the sore excuse of a programmer my husband is." Bonnie laughed.

"And to think I chose to marry a regular lady with average skills over you." Charles shook his head, "I think I like my end of the bargain better."

"Alright Sarah, why don't we get on down to the garage so you and 'Ita can help me with my project before dinner is ready." Bonnie took the little girl's hand and walked out of the cottage.

Sarah ran into the garage and jumped onto Bonnie's seat next to the computer. "'Ita, guess who I am pretending to be?"

Another voice issued from nearby, "I won't guess until you guess who KITT is letting me be."

"Alright girls that is enough silliness. You are here to help me with my project and I have told you many times that the equipment in here is not a toy. Especially not KITT," Bonnie wagged her finger.

"I am sorry Bonnie, your offspring was getting bored so I decided she could get in less trouble inside of me rather than out there where I have little control over what she touched." KITT responded.

"Thanks KITT." Bonnie swung around and picked Sarah up before opening KITT's door and ordering her daughter out of the driver's seat. "Alright I need you two to help me reorganize my tool box, do you think you can do that?"

"Yes Mommy," Bonnie's daughter responded with a smile.

"Yes Ma'am," Sarah grinned as she pulled the tool box out from the wall.

"What has gotten your pants in a twist? I thought you were out enjoying a day off with your family?" a man stepped away from the black car in the garage.

"'Ita is in the car, can you call Devon down here, Michael? We have a problem."

"KITT, call Devon down here, and get Dr. Graiman up here as well." Michael frowned as he moved around the car towards his friend.

A few minutes later Charles and Devon walked into the garage, "What is the big issue?"

"The Black Coats have finally made their move against us. I took Bonnie and 'Ita up to the mountains and the Black Coats came. They took Bonnie and left this note." The man held up the note.

Devon started to pace, "We have been aware of the fact that the government has wanted to shut us down for a while now. But I had always hoped that they wouldn't resort to kidnapping to try and scare us out of operation."

"Yes well, they are willing to trade. They will let Bonnie go if we give up KITT." The man frowned.

KITT pushed back, "You should listen to them. After you get her back I can corrupt my programming so that they would never get anything out of my data banks."

"KITT, we will never give in to them. Yes we have had threats over the last few months but we just have to find our way around them. Find out why they are suddenly trying to get us shut down." Michael stated.

Devon took the note and frowned, "We might have to think of something, they are threatening to kill her if we don't give in to them."

"Charles!" came a terrified scream running up the driveway.

"Louise!" Charles called out to his frantic wife.

"Charles, you have to do something about this madness. I just got a very mysterious call." The woman sobbed, "They told me that they had Bonnie, tell me that it isn't true?"

Devon frowned, "Louise, I am afraid it is indeed true."

Louise looked at the grim face of Bonnie's husband, "No!" she sobbed, "Then you will want to know that if you don't give them what they want they will come after me and then they have also threatened the lives of the children."

Michael frowned, "I won't let that happen." He went to KITT's door, "these threats stop now!"

Charles reached out, "Michael we need to think smarter here. This is a branch of the government we are talking about here. They might be using illegal tactics but nonetheless they are a lot bigger than our small agency."

"Even if we get her back we are still going to need to hide away for a while." Devon frowned, "I was alright with just one threat but with it known that they won't stop until they get everything they want, and we just can't risk it."

"What are we going to do Devon?" Bonnie's husband asked "KITT, is that spare car that Bonnie has been working on still in the second bay?" Devon asked brushing his fingers down the side of his face.

"Yes Devon, it is still there." KITT agreed.

"Charles, Waldo, I want you to devise a way to make the spare car have KITT's basic functionality. We will be trading a fake for Bonnie; however it has to be realistic. They have a vague idea of what KITT is capable of." Devon described.

"But after we get Bonnie back and they realize that they have been tricked they are going to come after us." Michael stated.

"But we won't be here." Devon frowned, "I had always hoped that we never would have to evacuate but it is looking like we will have to."

"Where will we be going?" Waldo asked.

"Where ever you want to go as long as we don't go in groups bigger than three people." Devon sighed, "It is likely that they will go after Michael, Bonnie and I with much more force because of our involvement so we will go deep underground together. Charles, you will take your wife and Sarah away from here. Waldo, you unfortunately will have to carry on without Bonnie but you will go somewhere with Aelita."

"What about KITT?" Michael asked.

"In this situation unfortunately it was programmed into me that if this course of action was ever enacted I would be disassembled, Michael." KITT responded.

"There has to be another way!" Michael frowned, "KITT and I can make everything alright if you just allow it!"

"How, Michael? We can't just push a magic button, we aren't dealing with ordinary bad guys; we are dealing with a secret and illegal part of the government. They have the badges and the authority to take us down." KITT reiterated what had been said

"Relax Michael, one day we will be able to be back together again and we WILL be able to bring KITT back at that time as well." Devon nodded, "Charles and Waldo will separate KITT from his shell. Waldo will take KITT's core into hiding with him and Charles will take the shell with him."

"They won't know where to look first." Waldo nodded, "There is no questioning that this will be dangerous."

"No, it definitely will have its risks. We will not have any communication between any of us. We will just have to rely on timing to figure out when we should get back together." Devon said as he shook hands with the team one last time. "Michael, come to my office, we will decide our last plan for a counter attack."

As Charles was getting ready to leave Devon came out and made one last conversation with him. "Charles, I need you to take this folder and retrieve the people noted in the folder."

"Why Devon?" Charles started to open it up to see a picture slide out.

"I found out about her not too long after Michael joined our team. She has been looking for Michael Long. I am afraid where we can't protect her for the time being we are going to need to hide her. It is only a matter of time before the Black Coats find out about her and the child." Devon frowned.

"You mean Michael has a son?" Charles said as he looked at the information.

"Yes. I want you to retrieve her and keep her out of the harm's way. I won't ask you any questions about where you take her, you take her and hide her where ever is best for you." Devon said as he stepped away.


	2. Chapter 2

Aelita sat up in bed and took a deep breath. XANA had been shut down yet she still had the dreams in her memory fragments of her Mother. Not being able to sleep she got out of bed and slipped into her slippers. Jeremy had mentioned that he was going to be staying up late to work on his science fair project.

As she tiptoed past Jim's door on the boys' floor she noticed the light was still shining out from under Jeremy's door. She sighed because that meant he was indeed still awake. As she was about to knock on the door she heard Jeremy sniffle back some tears.

"I understand," Jeremy's voice drifted through the door, "I still wish I could be there for the funeral."

Another voice uttered through the room and Aelita realized that Jeremy had the phone on speaker phone, "You are better off there. It is dangerous back here right now. The FBI keeps trying to shut us down. Maybe by the end of the term we can get back to stable enough of grounds that you can come home and spend the holiday with me."

Aelita stepped back as it dawned on her that Jeremy was speaking in English. She had never heard him speak anything but French outside of English class and she didn't think he was any good at it either, well, not the best in their class.

"I just wish I could be there with you and the team. I want to meet Billy and Zoe." Jeremy said changing the subject.

"Don't worry they aren't going to be going anywhere, they will still be here over summer break." The phone voice laughed.

"But how, I thought because of," there was a pause on Jeremy's part, "That all the funding would be gone."

"Don't worry about that. There is plenty of funding; it is just all of our own money. You don't think Wilton Knight would leave any member of Knight Industries struggling for money do you?" the phone voice explained.

"You mean we, ahh…" Jeremy paused again.

"Yes Jeremy, I should go now. Mike needs me to look at something. You need to stay there for now." The voice said as there was a click and she heard Jeremy move from his desk chair to his bed. The light then went out before Aelita could even knock.

The next morning at breakfast Aelita gazed over at Jeremy who was enthusiastically buttering his croissant. Odd was pigging out and Ulrich was waiting for Yumi.

"Jeremy, were you crying last night?" Aelita asked softly as she broke her croissant.

"Why? What do you mean?" Jeremy paused.

Ulrich reached up, "Don't tell me that you were peeping on Jeremy last night, Aelita."

"I couldn't sleep and you said you were going to be up late working on a science project so I snuck down to your room. Only I got there to hear you crying and talking to someone on the phone." Aelita whispered.

"Please don't bring that up again. I had fallen asleep and had a dream so I called my cousin." Jeremy frowned and turned coldly away.

Aelita pushed back her chair never having seen Jeremy like this with the exception of the time XANA had duplicated Jeremy. That however was not a possibility because she knew for certain that the super computer had been unplugged.

Odd looked up from his breakfast and frowned at the scene, "Did I just miss you two having a fight?"

"You have me." Ulrich stated, "I don't understand what just happened."

As the weeks bore down Jeremy seemed to get more elusive. He seemed to be changing. Aelita often saw him sitting alone reading something on his laptop however upon going over to him he would close the top and stuff it away. Sometimes he would move and talk to her for a short time but never about what he was reading.

During exams she noticed that Jeremy packed up most of his room and when she asked about it he shrugged, "I am not quite sure if I am coming back in the fall. I might decide to stay closer to home; my family is in a pretty rough time right now." He explained as he packed his bags and stacked them by the door.

The day after exams finished and the end of the year ceremonies had ceased Jeremy asked everyone to help him carry his bags out to the parking lot where they were met by a man driving a rental unit. Aelita was confused, she had met Jeremy's father once before but this wasn't him, heck this man wasn't even old enough to be his father.

"I take it you are Billy?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes I see Sarah told you to expect me?" the man said shaking Jeremy's hand.

"Yes she did, I am excited to be able to see all the recent developments. I am glad I get to meet you as well." Jeremy grinned as the man helped him load his bags into the trunk.

"You have a ton of stuff, don't you?" the man grunted as he stuffed the last of the bags into the car.

"I left a lot behind as well. This is only the stuff that I need back home." Jeremy frowned, "I know it is still going to be a pain getting all this through customs."

"Don't worry about that, Sarah was arranging all that" The man said as he tossed his key and started to walk to the left side of the car before smacking his head and going to the right side.

Jeremy turned to the gang and hugged Aelita, "I will write you as often as possible."

Yumi reached out, "It has been nice knowing you Jeremy. I hope one day we can meet again."

"Enjoy your new school in the fall, Yumi." Jeremy smiled, "I know one day somehow we will be back together again."

Billy came over to them, "Jeremy, are you ready to go?"

Jeremy nodded and got one last hug from his friends before climbing into the car. "Thanks for not saying too much." Jeremy nodded at Billy.

"I wasn't told to come here and blow your cover. Sarah just asked if I would see to it that you got home safe and sound." Billy shrugged, "I just hope when we get back that Zoe hasn't reorganized my desk or the workspace in general."

"I have been reading up on some things that Sarah sent me and I can't wait till I see this new facility that Dad procured for us." Jeremy grinned as he looked at the older boy. "Sarah didn't give me much of the specifics though. So I have no idea what to expect. I kept trying to decode what she explained to me but there wasn't much there."

"Trust me, we are still very cautious. Although things are getting better now that we are our own entity again." Billy nodded, "When we get back you are going to be like a kid in a candy shop."


	3. Chapter 3

Jeremy sat up and rubbed his eyes. He was in a bed although he didn't remember getting there. He and Billy had gotten off of the plane and no sooner than they had met their ride had he dozed off. Someone must have carried him to a bedroom because that is where he was now.

Jeremy looked about the room that looked like it was supposed to be his by the fact that his bags were piled near the door. The bunk was built into the wall and the whole back wall of the room that wasn't drawer space had a big view screen -type window. The screen was currently dark, opening the door he looked out into the semi dark hallway trying to figure out which way he should go. Figuring getting lost in such a place was going to be a bad thing he stepped back into the room and walked over to the desk where he found a note as well as a small keyboard.

The note was from Sarah and it explained how to get in touch with Sarah. Pressing the buttons Sarah soon appeared on the screen. "Good afternoon sleepy head! I see you found my note?"

"Yeah, you should have just woken me up when I arrived though." Jeremy frowned.

"I was unfortunately sleeping when you arrived. I told Mike to wake me up however he didn't and said this morning that he wasn't going to wake me because I was actually sleeping." Sarah laughed on the screen. "I will be down in a few minutes to give you the grand tour."

"Thanks, Sis." Jeremy smiled as he disconnected. It felt really great to be able to speak his native language without having to pretend he was awful at it. He wished he could have gone to Kadic as an American transfer instead of as a French student. The secret identities had sometimes been a bit too much. Jeremy was just glad that his father had taught him how to speak French fluently when he was very young.

Grabbing one of his bags he started to unpack his bags into his dresser while he waited for Sarah to come and get him.

Sarah knocked a few minutes later and had smiled when he opened the door for her. "Hey Bro, how are you holding up?"

"It was hard going after I found out what had happened but I managed to hide it. How have you been holding up?"

"Really well, I have almost completely re-established FLAG. It won't be long until I can reach out and get all of FLAG together." Sarah nodded.

"Dad never went into detail about what FLAG actually was. All I know was that something bad went down before I was born and that is why we grew up on a farm that was way off the beaten path." Jeremy said as he walked with Sarah down the hall.

"I don't completely understand what happened either. Dad just left me lots of notes on what needed to be done to make this all work. When it happened, 'Ita and I were only seven and most of the time we were expected to be seen but not heard and most definitely we were not supposed to be near the garage or any of the major work spaces unless invited in personally." Sarah frowned.

"Who was 'Ita? I don't think you have ever talked of that name before?" Jeremy asked.

"Ita was my best friend. We grew up together with both of our fathers working for FLAG. Don't ask me what her full name was because I never called her that. She had been introduced to me as 'Ita and that is all she ever was to me." Sarah said as she pointed out the kitchen.

Jeremy walked into the kitchen and sat at the table.

"Sorry about the state of the kitchen, this is a fairly makeshift one that was made out of the staff lounge. The original kitchen that was put into this place the FBI stripped when they left and it was made to serve all the people they had brought in." Sarah said as she grabbed the jug of milk from the refrigerator.

"I think it looks fine, if it is just you and four others, not including me then there isn't any need for a big fancy kitchen." Jeremy shrugged as he took the milk followed by a bowl and some cereal.

"Who told you there were five of us here?" Sarah asked curiously.

"Billy mentioned that it was you, Mike, Zoe, KITT and him." Jeremy said seriously.

"KITT isn't exactly a person Jeremy, I thought you knew that?" Sarah frowned.

Jeremy shook his head, "I haven't been home for the last three years. Dad always kept me out of his work."

"I will have to show you after you finish eating." Sarah said as she sat down with him at the table.

Once Jeremy had eaten and Sarah had thrown the dish into the dishwasher he followed her down the hall. "My office is right up here on the left." Sarah pointed, "It was Dad's office but it just felt right taking it because of all the information he had stored up and hidden in the room."

Sarah stopped just outside her office and leaned on a railing.

Jeremy squinted to see in the darkened room but once he saw what was down below him he gasped.

"This is the main room of the base. Zoe and Billy work at those computers although I think they are either taking a break or are on another level looking for some sort of spare parts." Sarah gestured about the room.

"Where is this KITT?" Jeremy asked, "You said you would tell me after I ate something."

Sarah pointed to the two arches, "You see the black car?"

Jeremy looked confused, "Yes I see the black car, and it is a really nice car. Dad must have spent a fortune getting it."

"Not as much as you might think although that car is worth far more than any other with its body type." Sarah smiled as she walked to the stairs.

"What do you mean?" Jeremy asked frowning at his sister's indirectness with the topic.

"That car is the Knight Industries Three Thousand, or otherwise known at KITT" Sarah laughed as she got closer, "KITT, I would like you to meet Jeremy."

"Jeremy Graiman, the only son of Charles Graiman. I was uncertain as to why there was little to no mention of him." KITT responded as Jeremy jumped.

"Dad wasn't joking that one time he told me he could make cars talk." Jeremy said as he circled around the car and gasped at it.

"I can do more than just talk, Jeremy. With Mike in my driver's seat I can do almost anything he needs me to do in order to accomplish the mission we have been assigned." KITT stated.

"Jeremy, KITT is covered in that Nano-technology that I told you I created. He can immediately regenerate any part of his frame that is damaged." Sarah explained, "I see I am going to have to bring you up to date on many things."

Mike came sliding down the pole, "I see the little pest has woken up?"

"What the heck are you doing here, Mike?" Jeremy said squaring off between Mike and Sarah.

"Jeremy, relax, Mike is the director of field operations. He is KITT's driver." Sarah laid a hand on her brother's shoulder.

"I should relax? The guy might have grown up in our back yard but he still stood you up when it came time for your wedding. Not only that but one thing Dad did send me was his obituary." Jeremy said Standing Square between the two.

"Ok, I deserve that one coming from you!" Mike smiled, "I don't remember getting engaged to Sarah, and Sarah and I have come to a mutual agreement on that matter. I was involved in a secret project while I was deployed overseas and they wiped my memory. Second, I obviously didn't really die; the obituary was faked because my death was faked. I am no longer Mike Traceur though, I am now known as Mike Knight."

"Mike Knight?" Jeremy wrinkled his nose, "what the heck?"

"As I was told my father was Knight so I just assumed his name. I grew up with my Mom's name because she never really knew where my Dad was and actually for a while she thought he was dead. Knight wasn't even his real name, when she had known my Dad his name was Michael Long."

"Ok…" Jeremy turned about the room to be spooked by an Asian woman who came rollerblading down the hallway.

"Jeremy, that is Zoe," Sarah said as Zoe climbed down the stairs.

Once getting down to their level Jeremy held out his hand, "Nice to finally meet you Zoe. I have heard so much about you."

"How charming," Zoe exclaimed with a smile on her face before turning to skate over to her desk.

Billy came sliding down the fireman's pole.

"And I believe you already know Billy." Sarah gestured.

Jeremy nodded and watched as the guy came over, slapped him on the back and said, "Good afternoon."


	4. Chapter 4

"So, Mike how did you get involved with FLAG?" Jeremy asked one day while they were relaxing.

Mike sat up and looked at the younger boy, "Well I never really knew what my exile was about until I got here. But as you know I grew up on your Father's farm. I guess my journey to this place began when I was seven."

"I lived in a small apartment with my mom until that time. One day a man came to the door. He was driving a long flatbed truck with something big stacked on the back. Mom shoed me away to my room when the man identified himself and said he had information on my Father."

"Immediately after that conversation my Mom came in to me, threw a suitcase at me and told me that we had to move. We each left within the hour with what we could carry. We drove our car to a backwater gas station and left the car before getting a bus to the next town. In the next town we met up with that man again, I learned his name was Charles Graiman, and that he had been a friend of my Father. I was scooted into the back seat and sat next to my Mother and Sarah."

"We kept on driving for a couple of weeks and even changed car types a few times. It was always big enough to store the entire luggage on the back. I never knew why we never drove the car that was kept in the back. Nor was I told anything about what went on in the shed next to the main farm house. Sarah knew some stuff but I don't think she knew it all until I went away to the Army."

"I never knew anything either. Dad never let me out into the shed." Jeremy agreed, "Although I do know that until now FLAG has been on the run."

"Exactly Jeremy, FLAG is finally free to settle down and be known of again." Mike smiled as he held out his hand to the younger boy, "Do you forgive me for hurting your sister before?"

"I guess, you just better never do it again." Jeremy laughed.

"You don't have to worry about that as long as I don't die out there on the mission field." Mike laughed.

"Can a person named Mike Knight who died before still die?" Jeremy asked smartly.

"Oh you have me there. I guess I will just have to stay away from those paint guns or they will give away my undead secret." As Mike stood up he gave Jeremy a smack on the back.

"Hey, Jeremy! Just the little man I needed to see!" Billy said as he walked through the hall.

Jeremy sat against the wall trying to write a letter. "Do you need something Billy?"

"Your Sister wants you to help me with a little project that she recently had shipped here from storage." Billy smiled as he pointed to a door on the side of the main chamber.

"What is the project, do you know?" Jeremy asked standing up.

"Oh, yeah!" Billy turned around with a cheer, "It is the mother of all projects."

Jeremy watched curiously as Billy opened the doors with a flourish and pulled a sheet off of the object inside.

"A car; that is what Sarah's big project is?" Jeremy looked dumbfounded, "Don't we have bigger things to do around here?"

"You are not seeing the whole picture here, Jeremy." Billy said turning on the lights as he walked around the spare parts that lay around the room.

"I see a black Trans-Am that is from the eighties." Jeremy frowned.

"No Jeremy, you need to look closer." Billy said standing by the hood.

"Is that a sensor light?" Jeremy asked walking closer to the car as he reached his hand out to feel the hood.

"You my friend are looking at the original KITT: Knight Industries Two Thousand. Your father had this puppy in storage your whole life." Billy shrugged as he walked around it.

"This is the original car that FLAG used?" Jeremy gasped, "What does Sarah want us to do with it?"

"Well your Father sort of dismantled him to figure out how all the circuitry worked together when he was building the Three Thousand. The two of us are going to spend the summer piecing KITT here back together with these old schematics."

"I don't know much about cars though." Jeremy shrugged.

"Neither did I before I started working here. Trust me, you'll learn pretty fast." Billy handed the schematic over, "You can start by handing me the parts I need first."

Jeremy sighed as he sat down with his dinner.

"How is your project going?" Sarah sat down next to him.

"After a week of working on it, I don't think we have made more than an inch of progress. Why exactly Did Dad take everything out of the car?"

"He did it to gain a better understanding of the finesse behind KITT as he built our KITT." Sarah smiled, "He didn't build that one so he had to reverse engineer it in order to build another one."

"I can't help but think that there is a crucial part missing. Billy keeps trying to make all the parts fit together and they just aren't connecting." Jeremy sighed as he played with his food.

"There is a part missing. It went with the other FLAG scientist. I don't exactly know what part it is though. Dad never got around to telling me that part. He did tell me that reassembling KITT will be able to activate the homing beacon to get the missing part here. After that when we get KITT operational he can then locate everyone else." Sarah leaned her head back and rubbed her temples.

"We finished reassembling the Two Thousand last week and still we haven't gotten any response even though we know that the transponder is active." Jeremy sighed as he paced the floor.

"We have noticed a power surge in France near Kadic. Obviously something has happened to Waldo and his daughter. You are going to have to go back to school early and retrieve the part for us." Sarah leaned back in her desk.

"I can't exactly do that, Sarah." Jeremy bit his lip.

"Why not, in past years you have always gone back early." Sarah said as she leaned forward again.

"I sort of dropped out of the school before Billy picked me up. I was sure that you were going to need me here from now on." Jeremy brushed his toe on the ground.

"You did what?!" Sarah stood up from her desk. "Jeremy you have only one more year at Kadic. Did you really think you were going to drop out that close to completing?"

"I thought I would be needed more here." Jeremy frowned again.

"I will need you but for right now I have to find out how to relocate Dr. Waldo or whatever his name really was so that we can get the rest of FLAG here." Sarah sighed. "Once FLAG is back up and running then I will certainly need you."

"So the transponder is bouncing off of a location in France near my school?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes I do believe that is what the computer is feeding back to me. If I remember correctly Waldo was French so it would make sense that he was hiding in France." Sarah sighed, "I will fly back with you and get you back into the school next week. I will also give you the toys needed to find our missing scientist."

"Alright I will do what you ask." Jeremy smiled as he left the room and leaned on the door with a groan.

"I heard that Jeremy!" Sarah called out to him.

Jeremy exhaled and shook his head, how was he going to explain this to Aelita. She had not been able to write him all summer although he had written her. He had told her that he was looking at schools around here and quite interested in a few of them.


	5. Chapter 5

"You see Mr Delmas, Jeremy freaked out at the end of last semester. I told him that our family business was running into some problems and he decided he would take it on himself to drop out of school to try and help me." Sarah said sitting in a chair in the headmaster's office.

"It is good thing that you are here to straighten out your cousin's mistakes. I was certainly horrified to learn that our best student was going to leave us early." Mr Delmas nodded, "Jeremy can even have his old room back; I was able to leave it empty when we did rooming assignments for the new students."

"Thank you Mr Delmas," Sarah smiled as she nodded and dismissed herself to head out the door where Jeremy had waited for her.

"You are very lucky that I was just able to get you back in." Jeremy ran beside Sarah as they walked towards the dorms.

Once inside the room Sarah knocked on Jim's door and spoke in her little practiced French, other than this visit to the school she had hardly had to work with the language.

Jim opened the door and peered out, "hello ma'am, school registrations aren't being held until next week for new students."

"I know that, but my cousin isn't a new student and I am returning him early. His Father told me I could return him this week." Sarah apologized as she held the door open. "The headmaster told me that I could come to you to get the key to his room."

"Whose room is it?" Jim turned to grab the keys.

"Jeremy Belpois." Sarah smiled.

"I do not have Jeremy on my list of returning students this year. I was under the impression that he was transferring." Jim said as he looked on his list.

"I have already spoken to the principal. It was a mistake on Jeremy's and my part." Sarah nodded as she looked around, "I was told he could have his old room back."

"Well I see that the room is indeed open. As long as everything is back in order, I don't see a problem about giving you two the key." Jim handed the key over. "Good to see you back, Jeremy." Jim nodded his head as he shut the door back up.

Once in Jeremy's room Sarah took a deep breath. "I don't know how you stand it talking in fluent French all day every day, do you ever slip up?"

"I might this year but for the last three years I have been unable to leave France so I never stopped speaking French." Jeremy nodded as he sat back on the bed.

"Why don't we go get your bags and then you can give me a tour of the campus?" Sarah said as she stretched out her back.

"Alright Sarah," Jeremy followed her out of the room.

After several trips back and forth they got all the bags and anything additional that she had bought him on the trip to the school that he needed.

Once everything was in the room Sarah handed Jeremy a small box, "Keep this box in the bottom of your bag. Don't let anyone see it, it will allow you to find the Two Thousand's core memory."

"I understand." Jeremy nodded as he stuck it in his bag under his laptop. "Now how about that tour before you need to get back to the airport?"

"That sounds pretty good, just remind me to speak French?" Sarah laughed as she walked out of the room.

Odd ran over to the bench where Aelita and Ulrich were sitting, "You two will never guess who I just saw on campus and with a very hot tall brunette."

"Who did you see, Odd?" Ulrich rolled his eyes as Aelita laughed at Odd's expression.

"I just saw Jeremy. Jim was there when I saw him and confirmed that Jeremy is indeed coming back here this year."

"The last letter Jeremy sent me said he was looking at a school near his cousin's place." Aelita looked confused.

"I last saw him and the brunette heading to the commons area. If we hurry we might be able to catch up to the two of them." Odd said already jogging backwards.

Once they reached the school commons Aelita let her jaw drop as it was indeed Jeremy standing there with a very pretty, older woman. Aelita estimated the woman was probably in her mid to late twenties.

As the three of them approached the woman picked up her cell phone and began talking in English. Aelita recognized the voice from the previous year, just before Jeremy had begun acting weird.

Jeremy spun around at just that moment and smiled with a wave, "Aelita!" he greeted enthusiastically.

Aelita moved in closer until she was arm's length away before she crossed her arms and scowled, "How could you lie to me like that, Jeremy? And I wanted to write back to you all summer but I never could because you never sent me a mailing address."

"Sorry I didn't have an accessible mailing address for much of the summer. I never wanted to miss your letters either so I just didn't provide you an address. I did check my email every day, you could have emailed me." Jeremy apologized.

"Jeremy, are these the friends you have been telling me about?" Sarah asked as she put her phone back in her pocket.

"Oh ahh, yes they are my friends." Jeremy smiled, "This is Aelita, Odd and Ulrich."

"Pleasure to meet you all, I am Jeremy's cousin Sarah Graiman." Sarah said politely switching back to her French.

Aelita let her face twist up briefly but neither Sarah nor Jeremy noticed but the last name of Graiman seemed very familiar to her.

Sarah looked at her watch and gasped, "Jeremy, I hate to have to leave so soon but I must get to the airport or I will miss my flight."

"I don't want you to do that Sarah; you have a meeting tomorrow, don't you?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes, I get to fly all night and then get back to the office just to put on a happy and awake face just to have a meeting about a defence contract." Sarah sighed, "Guess who will be sleeping all the way back home?"

"E-mail me to tell me how it went after the meeting is over, will you?" Jeremy smiled.

"You know I will. If it wasn't for the work you helped me with I would never be ready for such a hefty meeting." Sarah squeezed Jeremy's shoulder as she reached for her keys and walked towards the parking lot.

"Defence contract?" Ulrich asked Jeremy, "What kind of work does she do?"

"Ahh, well by Defence contract she means she is working on a prototype that could potentially be very dangerous and she wants to know her work is very heavily protected." Jeremy scratched his head as he thought fast. Luckily the others bought it.

"What does she do for work and does she have a younger sister who might be interested in me?" Odd asked as his eyes followed her down the walkway.

"No she doesn't have a younger sister, and yes she has a boyfriend so she is out of the question, Odd. She is a scientist but I can't just pin her down to one field of study, she dabbles in chemistry and biology as well as a few other branches. Now only is she unavailable but she is way too smart for you, Odd." Jeremy smirked as Odd sighed.

"Why do all the pretty ones need to be so overly intelligent?" Odd sighed as he turned away from his view of Sarah, "Is her boyfriend smart as well?"

"No, not really I think he is more comparable to Ulrich than he is to someone like me." Jeremy winked.

"Are you saying I am not smart?" Ulrich asked insulted.

"Well your grades aren't that great remember?" Jeremy pointed out, "but what I was intending to say is that Mike is extremely buff, he is always training and is a killer at martial arts."

"Oh ok, I guess that is forgivable." Ulrich laughed as he flexed his biceps, "I guess even the smart ones need a strong man to protect them."

"If you guys don't mind I am going to head back to my room and unpack everything." Jeremy frowned as part of him didn't want to leave but the other part of him wanted to play with the toy that Sarah had left him and also unpack his bags.


	6. Chapter 6

Jeremy sat on his bed with his bedroom door locked. He pulled out the transceiver and turned it on. The small screen Sarah had put on the device lit up and it showed a dot in it that represented him at the end of a cone. He guessed that as he walked around the screen would show a blip for where the missing piece was located.

He was confused, though, when he thought about it because Sarah had told him to keep it hidden. This meant he unfortunately wouldn't be able to watch the screen for a blip when he went anywhere. When he flipped it over he noticed a small indent, when he wiggled his finger inside it he retrieved an ear wig. So that was the idea behind it, when he went anywhere he would put the ear wig in and be able to hear when the devise sensed the part.

There was a knock at the door, "Jeremy, Yumi just called and wants to know if you want to come to dinner. Her Father is letting her invite us over where the cafeteria isn't open yet."

Jeremy stuffed the transceiver in his bag before opening the door. "Are you sure I am invited, last she knew I wasn't coming back to Kadic for this school year."

"I am sure there will be room for you." Aelita laughed as she took his arm in hers and walked down the hallway dragging him behind her.

Jeremy quickly wiggled the ear wig into place and walked beside her.

As they walked down the street and they passed the street that headed to the factory he heard a brief ping although it faded out. Maybe he would be able to find an excuse to leave early so he could check out the reading.

He must have paused because Aelita looked up towards him with a smile. "Is something wrong?"

"No, just a thought that is all, but don't worry about it, let's go enjoy dinner with the Ishiyama's" Jeremy waved it off.

Aelita laughed as they walked up the steps to Yumi's house to find that Ulrich and Odd had beaten them to the house. Yumi opened the door to greet Aelita only to blanch slightly at the fact that Jeremy was there.

"I take it the knuckle brains didn't tell you I had re-enrolled for this year?" Jeremy shrugged.

"No, it would have been nice to receive a call though!" Yumi planted her hands on her hips.

"Sorry, I thought you would like this element of surprise as much as Aelita did this afternoon." Jeremy laughed.

"Yeah that was real cute, although there has to be some way you can get me a date with your cousin. Even if she is like way older than me she is totally hot." Odd said coming over to Jeremy.

"No Odd, she is off limits, how many times do I have to say that?" Jeremy sighed.

"Jeremy has a hot cousin?" Yumi asked raising her eyebrows.

Ulrich kissed Yumi on the cheek before stating, "Oh she is pretty alright, and I am sure when she was in school she had all the guys looking at her. Just like you Yumi, if you ever put yourself out there for the guys."

"Actually the only guy that has ever really been in her life with the exception of college friends was her boyfriend Mike. She went to an all girls' school." Jeremy laughed, "They were actually supposed to get married before but the Army messed with Mike's deployment so they ended up temporarily breaking up."

"Wow that is tough." Yumi sighed, "I wish I could have met your cousin."

"I am sure she would have liked you as well." Jeremy laughed, "So where is the food?"

"It is not like you to think so much about food, Jeremy." Yumi laughed.

"I have spent the entire summer in a different time zone. I am used to eating far earlier in the evening." Jeremy sighed as he stretched out.

After eating the others all insisted on watching a movie, which Yumi's parents were allowing. Jeremy however stood up and stretched, "I am feeling my jet lag a little now. I am surprised it didn't hit me earlier than this."

Aelita stood up, "I will walk with you back to campus if you want."

"No, why don't you stay here and finish your movie. I don't want to ruin your evening." Jeremy waved her off, "I will be fine."

Jeremy went to the door and slipped his shoes on. He then walked down the street and when he got to the side street he listened for the ping before stepping down the road. As he walked the ping got a little bit louder and by the time he reached the end of the bridge he was tempted to pull the ear wig out of his ear.

Instead he reached into his bag and pulled the device out. Looking on the screen he was surprised when the box told him he should be pretty much on top of the missing part to the Two Thousand.

Rubbing his eyes he switched the device off. He would worry about it tomorrow or maybe the next day. This was too stupid to be even possible. Why would the missing part be in the factory? He knew what was there and it definitely wasn't his missing part.


	7. Chapter 7

A week passed and Jeremy still hadn't gone back to the factory. Classes were going to start very shortly and he hadn't been bothered to check out something that seemed stupid even when he was awake. Not to mention that Aelita had been hanging onto him the last few days.

He decided to check the factory out while Yumi took Aelita shopping for new school clothes. This meant she wouldn't be around to ask him questions.

Jeremy slipped out of the dorms as soon as he saw Aelita leave with Yumi. It seemed different not having Yumi at the school this year but at least she lived just down the street so they could still hang out when none of them had classes.

Grabbing his scooter he went to the sewer where he climbed down into the dark tunnel to begin the familiar journey to the edge of the river. Before he climbed onto the bridge he put the ear wig into his ear and pulled out the device.

Reading the readings he walked into the factory and watched as the dot on the screen moved directly into the cone that represented the box he was holding. The missing part of the Two Thousand was definitely somewhere in the factory. Looking around he looked for anything that could be hiding it on the main level or even up in the rafters. There was nothing so he sighed and approached the elevator.

Once down on the top level of the super computer chambers he opened the elevator doors to find the super computer running. Nearly dropping the device he ran over to the control chair and jumped into it.

Reading the coding that was running across the screen he jumped back down and walked to the wall where he pushed some cords aside and found what he was looking for. There was the FLAG insignia imprinted into a piece of the super computer.

Going back to the computer screen he attempted to access through the coding. He had to figure out where in the computer were the parts for the Two Thousand.

Just as he picked up his cell phone it began to ring with Sarah's number. "Hello Sarah" he answered in English.

"I take it you are away from your friends?" Sarah asked, "What is that background noise?"

"I am checking out a lead on what I believe may be the part we are looking for. And yes, I am away from everyone." Jeremy responded as he switched ears with his phone.

"Good, I have a question to ask you, I have been having these weird déjà vu feelings about your friend Aelita. I have been thinking about them for the last week. I know it sounds impossible but somehow she reminds me of 'Ita."

"If I remember I will ask her if she might know anything." Jeremy said as he tapped the keyboard again.

"Are you sure?" Sarah asked, "Remember, try to be as nondescript as you can."

"Don't worry; I have been able to explain a lot of stuff away." Jeremy replied.

"Alright, I don't want to keep you any longer than I have." Sarah sighed, "Get back to me on that lead though."

"Bye Sarah and don't you worry an inch about this." Jeremy closed his phone and started to type again.

Jeremy didn't know how long he had been working when he heard the unmistakable sound of the elevator door opening. Quickly shutting down his reprogramming work he jumped over the side and hid behind the supercomputer. To his surprise the door opened to reveal Aelita.

Aelita paused as she entered into the lab. Uneasily she crossed her arms in front of her and walked towards the screen. Before she reached it she knelt down and Jeremy realized that he had left his bag next to the chair with the device sitting on top.

"Jeremy, I know you are down here." Aelita called out and Jeremy stepped out from behind the computer.

"I thought we agreed that we weren't going to mess with the supercomputer?" she asked as he came closer to her.

"I thought we agreed that we would never come back here and that we would forget about this place?" Jeremy crossed his arms.

Aelita put her hand on her hips, "I can't just forget about this place, you know that Jeremy. I can force myself to stay away but I feel like this place is home. How come the super computer is turned on though?"

"I know what you are probably thinking but I didn't turn it on. I think it turned itself on." Jeremy explained as he realized what she was still holding, "Could I have that back, I can't lose it."

Aelita turned it around in her hands, "what is it?"

"I can't really explain it right now Aelita. Please just hand it back to me." Jeremy frowned.

"No you owe me an explanation, first last spring you started getting all weird on me and now you come back to school mysteriously and behind all our backs are doing secret things here involving the super computer." Aelita said starting to get cross.

"All right, if you must know, Aelita. Last spring I found out that my Father died in a plane crash but for security reasons I could not reveal this. Sarah is my older sister and not my cousin. My last name is not really Belpois it is Graiman."

Aelita stopped and stared blankly at Jeremy not fully understanding what he was telling her.

"That box is something that Sarah gave to me in order for me to find something that Billy needs to complete a project." Jeremy shrugged.

"And what does that have to do with the super computer?" Aelita asked flipping the box over, "what is FLAG?"

"I am a part of FLAG, and the goal of FLAG is to hunt down and bring criminals who seem to think they are above the law to justice. During the summer when I wasn't working on a car shaped puzzle with Billy, Billy was sitting at a computer directing rescue cases with Mike who was out in the field." Jeremy frowned, "My Dad was one of the original programmer's slash engineers for FLAG until a branch of the government kidnapped the chief mechanic and started threatening to harm the children, my sister Sarah and her friend 'Ita."

"'Ita, what kind of a name is that?" Aelita asked scrunching her face up.

"It was some form of a nick name that everyone called her, even the adults. But Dad and the other technician broke down the Knight Industries Two Thousand. We have the shell back at the SSC however the one part that is missing is the Core and from what my scanner is telling me it is somewhere inside the super computer." Jeremy sighed, "I think the core is what reactivated the supercomputer but I can't be certain. Do you know anything about the parts your father used to make this?"

"No, I didn't know anything about this until the day he took me inside." Aelita said as she paced back and forth.

Jeremy sat back at the computer and started to type through the coding, "Aelita do you want to help me try to locate this thing?" He said looking back at Aelita.

"What do you need help with?" she looked up at him.

"I can scan you to Lyoko and you can go through files from a control tower." Jeremy smiled, "I don't want to hide anything from you."

Aelita hesitated, "I don't know, I want to help but I don't know what I would be looking for."

"You would be looking for something coded Knight Industries or something similar. I have an idea where it is located physically in the computer but I can't seem to localize how it is installed into the super computer." Jeremy frowned, "Give me a minute, however the super computer was reactivated all the files are mixed up. I am trying to locate your scanner file."

Aelita walked over to the screen which was scanning through all the computer files. "Jeremy, there it is," she pointed as a drive scanned onto the screen.

Jeremy clicked into the file bringing up his usual screen, "Alright now that I have access from the operator side of the computer I will be able to work better from this angle. Do you still want to go for a visit and help me from inside the computer?"

"I'll go." Aelita nodded as she went to the elevator and went down to the scanner room.

Jeremy transferred and scanned his friend before virtualizing her to Lyoko.

"Jeremy, it feels so good to be back in Lyoko, but at the same time I can't help but think of my father." Aelita called to him through the computer.

"I know Aelita, I am working on what I am doing and I can't help but think of what my father did before giving up his life." Jeremy sighed.

Aelita ran towards the closest control tower, "Jeremy how did your father die?"

"He died in a plane crash, my sister and Mike barely made it when he ejected them out of the plane in the three thousand. That is why I am doing what I am doing. Sarah wants me to help her get the Two Thousand up and running so we can contact the rest of FLAG." Jeremy explained sorrowfully.

"Ok answer me this next question, who is Mike and why is this FLAG group so important?" Aelita responded over Jeremy's ear piece.

"Mike is Mike Knight and he is the human driver for the Knight Industries Three Thousand. His father was the driver of the Knight Industries Two Thousand and legally they are both dead with no family to speak of." Jeremy paused, "Mike was supposed to marry my sister but didn't so now they are dating again. FLAG is an organization founded on one man's dream to make a difference and they go out and target people who are above the law so that they can be brought to justice."

"Jeremy I am almost at the tower, how is your search going out there?" Aelita asked.

"Not all that great. I am back jumbled up in all the data of the supercomputer and I am so far not able to pick out any one file that might contain the information." Jeremy mumbled.

"Jeremy, can you tell me what happened to cause this and how you wound up finding it in my Dad's supercomputer?" Aelita asked.

"Twenty years ago when my sister and her friend were only seven there was an abduction made by an agency of black coats on the chief mechanic of FLAG. They took her and if we didn't dissolve and give up our fight they were going to target my mother and then the children." Jeremy frowned, "the sad thing is I only found out the complete story this summer. Dad had only told me fragments up till this summer. Anyways the Two Thousand was ordered to be broken down; my dad who was the better mechanic got the body while his partner Dr. Waldo got the core memory. They broke down but promised that after they eluded the organization they would reform."

"Jeremy, I haven't managed to find it yet but I have something to confess." Aelita said softly towards the only person who could hear her.

"Yes Aelita?" Jeremy said frowning as he followed a lead, "Aelita, can you search through the background memory?"

"Yes, I do believe I can." Aelita paused for a moment as she changed her search in the tower. "I am still having nightmares of my mother being abducted and it is very clear that they were dressed in black coats. I also remember that one of my Dad's aliases was Dr. Waldo."

Jeremy paused and stared blankly at the screen, "Tell me you are not joking."

Aelita opened a window on the screen and stared right into Jeremy's eyes, "I am not joking Jeremy."

"Then that would mean that your Father was FLAG and that you would be Sarah's best friend 'Ita." Jeremy said as he stopped working through the files, "Aelita, I think we need to talk about this more and make sure it isn't a coincidence. Why don't I de-virtualize you and we can discuss this in person."

Aelita entered the room a few minutes later, "I don't like the thought of this anymore then you do, Jeremy."

"I don't know what to think anymore. We have spent all this time together and I never put two and two together when I learned the truth behind my family." Jeremy frowned.

"You could be right and it could be a coincidence. I mean secret government groups chase hundreds of people every year. And not to mention things get sold on the black market all the time." Aelita paced across the room.

"I know what you mean, the story we just suggested would make it very awkward seeing as up till now we thought you had no connections to hinder. The thought of you having a new identity but if there is something there then that would mean that you were best friends with my sister." Jeremy jumped down from the chair.

"Yeah, alright, that is a little awkward, but if it is so then we will find a way around it." Aelita walked over to Jeremy and laid a hand on his shoulder.

Jeremy looked at his watch, "Let's just forget about this for now. We will be late for dinner if we don't leave now. And it is commencement night."

Aelita nodded and picked up Jeremy's bag before handing it to him, "Are you going to tell Ulrich, Odd and Yumi?"

"No, not at this time, the fewer people who know about FLAG the better. There are still people out there after us. Sarah has gotten most of the people off of their back however FLAG has an awful reputation at this time." Jeremy shrugged.


	8. Chapter 8

Jeremy sat in his room as he paced trying to figure out if he should call Sarah or not and tell her of the complications. He was about to leave his room when his computer started to beep. Sarah was beating him to the chase by requesting a video chat with him.

He sat down and put his ear piece in and opened the conversation. "Jeremy, did you find anything today?" Sarah asked right off the bat.

"Good to hear from you as well, Sarah." Jeremy smiled.

"Sorry, just been having a rough day here. It will be so much better once we can reunify FLAG and get back some of our credibility." Sarah shook her head.

"I did find something however it isn't going to be easy. Our contact on this end has vanished and to complicate things the Two Thousand's core memory is very likely embedded into a computer here in France." Jeremy frowned, "I have it under control as the computer isn't in use any longer and I think I should be able to extract it."

"Good because I don't think I could spare either Billy or Zoe and I would rather not have to explain why I need to buy a computer from a Frenchman." Sarah shook her head.

There was a knock on the door and without asking Aelita entered the room, "Hi Sarah." She said greeting the image on screen.

"Aelita, it is good to meet you again, but I am in the middle of an important conversation with my cousin here." Sarah greeted over the speakers as Jeremy pulled the plug on his ear piece.

"Actually Sarah, I have filled Aelita in on almost everything. The computer that everything is in used to belong to her Father before his untimely death." Jeremy said with a blush.

**"**Aelita, do you know a Schaeffer? For the longest time I didn't have a full name but I just found a lone piece of paper with his full name on it." Sarah asked.

Jeremy held his breath as he waited for Aelita's response, "Yes I do, and he was my Father. Jeremy and I spent a better part of this afternoon trying to figure things out."

**"**Jeremy mentioned that he died, do you happen to have an older sister or someone that I could talk to about everything?" Sarah asked with a frown.

**"**No I don't have a sister, I am Waldo Schaeffer's only daughter. I don't fully understand everything but I have agreed to help Jeremy and once we retrieve what you need I would be more then willing to explain all that I know to you." Aelita crossed her arms.

**"**That doesn't make sense though, if you are Waldo Schaeffer's only daughter then you should be my age not the age of my kid brother." Sarah explained.

Jeremy stepped back over to the screen, "Sarah, I can't explain what I know over the computer but I promise you the second I get the core memory free Aelita and I will be on our way to the SSC to be debriefed."

**"**Sounds like a plan; I will have two tickets reserved in your name, Jeremy. The sooner the better as you know." Sarah sighed.

**"**I understand." Jeremy nodded, "I'll be back in touch with an update."

**"**Well that went better then I expected," Aelita explained once Jeremy had disconnected from the chat.

**"**What do you think you were doing?" Jeremy fumed, "I wanted to buy some time before we broke the ice to my sister."

**"**Well it went alright and she isn't pulling you out of here." Aelita turned around, "I also managed to get confirmation on my place in this whole organization."

Jeremy sighed, "Fine tomorrow after our last class we will put in an hour or two of research before supper. Don't you dare tell the others, though. I need you to trust me here and keep this between the two of us."

**"**Why, Jeremy?" Aelita asked reaching out.

**"**Because, I was going to be disappearing after I retrieved the memory. If you tell them if will complicate things." Jeremy sighed, "I can't live two lives once we reorganize FLAG. You will have to make a decision on whether you will come with me or remain here."

**"**Jeremy,but(not needed) if things are different and we can live lives normally why don't we? Why do you need to leave everything behind?" Aelita asked sadly.

**"**The black coats are still likely out there after the other half of FLAG. We are either fully in or fully out. If you decide to stay behind then there won't be any more open communication between the two of us." Jeremy cursed.

**"**Tell me Jeremy, would you be locating my mother?" Aelita asked as she reached out her hand.

**"**If everything is how we think it is then yes, Waldo Schaeffer was married to Bonnie, FLAG's chief mechanic." Jeremy nodded.

**"**Then I will be going with you. I would give up everything to know the fate of my Mother." Aelita pursed her lips and pouted as if to tell Jeremy that he wouldn't be able to change her mind.

**"**Fine, although you will have to work on your English." Jeremy smiled.

**"**Are you telling me that I didn't do fine speaking to your sister just now?" she smiled as she smacked his arm lightly.

**"**You did but not enough to show that you used to be an American citizen." Jeremy laughed.

Aelita smiled and shook her head. "I will work on that."


	9. Chapter 9

Aelita linked arms with Jeremy and laughed, "We did good work this afternoon."

**"**Yes we did, although we have a lot of work still in front of us." Jeremy smiled before stopping to whisper into Aelita's ear. "If anyone asks where we have been, our cover is that we were spending time alone studying." Jeremy kissed her on the cheek.

**"**Or we can simply tell them that we are formally dating." Aelita kissed Jeremy on the lips, "we are growing up and have made a big decision as to our future, and we should be able to know that we can take care of ourselves."

Jeremy smiled and kissed her back as Sissy walked around a corner.

**"**Eww, you do know that my daddy imposed a no PDA rule this year?" she whined as she caught them.

**"**We don't really care, Sissy. It isn't like you don't go out and dream of kissing Ulrich like this." Aelita sassed, "Besides this is what two people who are in love do."

**"**Figures that the school's two Einsteins would fall for each other; you already spend most of your time together." Sissy sassed back before making her way over to the dining room doors.

Jeremy shrugged, "In a few weeks she will be in our past."

**"**Let's get to the dining room before Odd and Ulrich send out the troops to look for us." Aelita grabbed Jeremy's hand and dragged him all the way to their table.

Ulrich looked up, "Geesh, you two almost didn't make it for the beginning of the year commission."

**"**Yeah, what a way to get on Jim's bad side for the year than to miss his special pep speech; he takes it almost as seriously as he does gym class." Odd replied as he eyed longingly at the serving line.

**"**It is the same speech every year." Jeremy muttered, "I think we could probably talk our way out of it."

Aelita reached over and kissed Jeremy on the cheek, "Well we made it and that is all that matters. It's not like anything has started yet."

Jim walked by, "And it won't start unless you quiet down, Miss Stones, if you haven't noticed the rest of the dining room quieted down while you and Jeremy were smooching."

There was a crack of laughter from everyone in the dining room which responded in Jim yelling out a very loud "QUIET!"

Jim made his way back to the front, "For all you new students tonight before you can help yourself to the food we will be commencing the school year. Traditionally this was held the night before the formal start of classes but due to some past scheduling errors we decided to modify this night and hold it after the first day of classes. Which as many of you noticed the classes were pretty unstructured and relaxed today; THIS will not happen tomorrow."

Jim went on to deliver his half of the speech before giving the podium to Principal Delmas, "Welcome students and with that welcome I feel that I need to inform a number of you that due to incidents last year I must regretfully inform the student body that this year we will be heavily policing our PDA policy. This will include changes in the dorms as well as on campus. Jim will fill in the rules on dormitory living while I will review the expectations of the main campus and classroom."

Principal Delmas handed the podium back to Jim, "In the dormitories we have had complaints that girls have been staying over in the boys' dorms and even using the boys' bathrooms. If anyone is in a room belonging to the opposite gender then the door must be left open. The opposite gender should never be caught in a bathroom assigned to the other gender. If anyone is caught breaking these rules there will be serious consequences."

Jeremy started to sink down as he felt Jim's eyes on him. Aelita had never spent the night in his room albeit if she knew he was up and she couldn't sleep she would come down to his room but only if they were both awake.

Aelita bit her lip as she looked at Jeremy remembering the one time she had been tricked into using the boys' bathroom.

Principal Delmas returned to the podium, "With that I will continue to say that out on main campus, members of the opposite sex may continue to hold hands and walk each other to class so long as it does not impede on their ability to get to their own classes on time. What will not be tolerated is if two members of the opposite genders are caught obstructing the door ways or impeding in the ability of your fellow classmates to get to classes in a timely matter."

**"**For the students who would also prefer to be with members of the same gender this rule applies to them as well and room checks will be done frequently to make sure all parties are keeping doors open when they have visitors." Jim threw into the rule.

After the rules were done with, Aelita whispered into Jeremy's ear, "We are going to have to think of something."

**"**Not here though." Jeremy whispered back as Odd came back from his race to get food first.

**"**What isn't happening here?" he asked as he sat down.

Jeremy blushed, "Odd, Aelita and I were just thinking about a new place for you to hide Kiwi with the room checks that will be happening."

**"**Yeah, I don't think that will be a problem. And somehow I think you were talking about something else the way you turned red." Odd snickered.

Aelita frowned, "Well keeping Kiwi is going to be a problem considering the room checks."

**"**I am telling you it isn't. Ulrich and I got the scoop on it the other day while you two were too busy smooching it up in the park. We decided that where Yumi doesn't come to school here anymore you are the only girl we really willingly hang out with. So therefore there is no reason why there should be a girl in our room. I never invite anyone to mine anyways and we can just hang out with you in Jeremy's room or in your own room." Odd explained his master plan as Ulrich returned.

**"**So you two are going to keep everyone out of your room this year?" Aelita asked Ulrich.

**"**That is what Odd wants to try, though I think he is going to forget it in the first week." Ulrich moaned as he sat down, "Is it me or has the food quality gone down yet again?"

Jeremy eyed the food, "I think it is you because it looks the same as it has for the last four years here."

**"**You might think it looks awful but it sure tastes divine! If you don't want it I will take it off your hands." Odd said as he swallowed down his roll.

Aelita grimaced, "tell you what, Odd, we will try the food and if it totally disgusts us we will give it to you. But we still need to go get our trays and give the food a try first."

Jeremy took her hand and they walked together to join into the mob that was scrambling for their dinner. "It always makes a big mess when they make us all wait to get our food."

**"**You're telling me, you would think they would do something about this like maybe hold this meeting elsewhere instead of in the dining room or maybe hold it after dinner." Aelita groaned as a sixth grader pushed through the two of them taking a place in front of them.


	10. Chapter 10

Aelita paced around the computer lab, "So we won't be able to hold meetings in your room anymore. Not that your room is the safest place if we are going to be hiding this little thing from Ulrich and Odd."

**"**So maybe this will work out better, we just can't let on that we are coming down here when we disappear in the afternoons." Jeremy paced back and forth, "The only thing I worry about is keeping in touch with Sarah, I should be able to keep the super computer functional enough to make calls through it until the day we extract the memory."

**"**Well the day you extract it we should probably head back to your sister before anything can happen to the memory." Aelita shrugged, "So it isn't like we will be out of contact reach for very long. We will just have to make it clear to her that video chats can only happen between sixteen hundred and eighteen hundred hours."

**"**Only problem is that there is a nine hour time difference. That would make it six in the morning till eight in the morning for Sarah. The base is in California." Jeremy counted on his fingers, "unless we sneak out of the dorms a couple nights a week and have a late night chat like I have been doing."

**"**If you still want to do that you can. I don't have to be in on the meetings." Aelita said as she had another idea.

**"**Sarah does want to check in with you though, even though you made her agree that the whole picture wouldn't be explained till we are back there, she wants to keep tabs on where we are in the project." Jeremy shrugged.

**"**So then we can have short meetings when we are down here while she has her morning cup of coffee or you can give her my instant messaging address and she and I can talk in my room." Aelita shrugged, "We are going to make this work."

**"**I think the meetings in the morning with you are going to have to do. I am not giving her your address because then you will never hear the end of it. Besides you know how my computer is so restricted, that is the only way the two of us can chat." Jeremy frowned.

**"**Enough discussion, let's get to work." Aelita said as she headed to the elevator, "We found the file location, we still haven't found out the extent of the modifications."

**"**Alright I will virtualize you. Say your goodbyes to Lyoko though, because I don't know if it will be safe to virtualize you once we start modifying the memory back to its original purpose." Jeremy nodded.

**"**Don't worry about me, Jeremy." Aelita laughed as she entered the elevator.

**"**Alright, I won't, but I will talk to you on the other side." Jeremy nodded as he brought up the virtualization files.

Once Aelita was virtualized she stood in the ice sector and turned in a circle, "Jeremy, something seems different out here."

**"**What do you mean? Can you give me a visual?" Jeremy asked.

**"**It's not anything that would show up on your screen. It is just a strange almost friendly aura that is surrounding me. The last few times that we have been here there has been no feeling at all and you know how it used to feel very hostile." Aelita mentioned as she started her run towards the control tower.

Aelita ran up to the tower but stopped just before running into the tower. She called out once again, "Jeremy, something is trying to block me from entering the tower. I can get my arms up to the wall however there is some sort of resistance."

**"**I am not reading anything strange on the screen however the Two Thousand's core seems to be active. I can pull you from Lyoko if you would like." Jeremy checked his screen and the readings.

**"**Not yet Jeremy, it doesn't seem to want to hurt me it just seems to be tapping into the energy of the tower but not in a bad way." Aelita called out as she pushed through the tower wall.

After about an hour of working Jeremy called out to her and reminded her that they had to be heading back. The story they were feeding Odd and Ulrich wouldn't stand up if they weren't back to the campus by dark. They would also have to figure something out once the weather became cooler but for now Ulrich and Odd believed that they were studying in a remote part of the park.

As Aelita left the tower to dematerialize herself she felt the pressure cling to her even more and it almost seemed to speak to her. For a moment she paused and tried to listen. And over the pressure she could hear Jeremy talking to her. It was very faint though but Aelita moved her way out of the pressure bubble and ignored it.

Aelita returned to Lyoko. Jeremy had decided that they had a few more days of her working inside the computer before they would have to disconnect from Lyoko. Their days were numbered at Kadic though and Jeremy felt that before the month was out they would be able to leave.

After classes got out on Saturday, Jeremy was going to take her and attempt to get a passport for her. He had been in contact with Billy who had managed to pull some strings and secure her identity so that it would stand up to a background check. To practice her conversation English they had started doing all their work in English and it still surprised her that Jeremy had known fluent English all along.

The last few days Aelita had noticed the pressure growing so much so that it was almost impossible to get into the tower now, although today was the worst. She realized that she would not be able to access the tower at all. Jeremy had wanted today to be the last day of Lyoko, the day in which they moved all the files, the day in which they could start reprogramming the core back to its original programmer's purpose.

Aelita sat in the middle of the pressure and stared at the tower. A voice came clearly through to her. "I have noticed that you seem to be trying to help me."

In a shaky voice she asked, "Are you the voice of the Two Thousand?"

**"**Yes, although you may call me KITT. Something about you seems familiar although you seem different at the same time. Where am I?"

**"**KITT, I am Aelita and I seem different because we are in the virtual world of Lyoko. It was one of my Father's last creations."

**"**Aelita you wouldn't happen to be the child of Dr. Waldo Schaeffer, would you?" the voice asked.

**"**Yes, that would be me, do we know each other?" Aelita asked as she kneeled on her knees.

**"**You do not remember me?" KITT asked.

**"**There are a lot of things I don't remember. I was frozen in time here in Lyoko for about twelve years. I have only been awake for about two years myself. My memory is just fragments of what it used to be."

**"**Why am I here in this Lyoko?" KITT asked her.

**"**I think my Father wanted to hide you where you couldn't be found. Even though we ran, Jeremy is taking a guess that we were still being chased by the men in the Black coats."

**"**Who is this Jeremy?" KITT asked her again.

**"**Jeremy Graiman," she asked in a confused tone, "You wouldn't remember him of course, he was born after everything happened. He is the youngest son of Professor Graiman."

**"**Where is your Father?" KITT asked.

**"**My Father gave up his life about a year ago. The reason why Jeremy and I are doing this is because Professor Graiman also died about eight months ago." Aelita said as she adjusted herself out of habit.

**"**Who authorized such a quest?" KITT asked.

**"**Sarah Graiman has been left in charge of everything. She is seeing that it gets done." Aelita frowned. "Will you trust me?"

**"**I will trust you on this. Someone is calling for you, is that Jeremy?" KITT inquired.

**"**Yes I do believe it is him. I won't be able to respond though so I might as well just re-join him out there. It seems that our work to collect all of your data files has worked." Aelita smiled before standing up and leaving the bubble.

Aelita raised her hand and created an energy orb before she jumped back into it and scattered her virtual body.

Upon regaining consciousness on the other side she walked back up to the computer lab. "I think we have done all the work possible in Lyoko."

**"**How can you be certain?" Jeremy turned to her.

**"**There is something else located in Lyoko I should know: I know that place inside out but for some reason I can't find the words to describe it." Aelita responded as she pressed a few buttons. "My next trip to Lyoko will be to send the information to the core memory. You said there was going to be some work on the physical part of the computer?"

**"**Yes and I am hoping that I will be able to keep the computer online so that I can access both parts at the same time." Jeremy said as he reached for some tools.

**"**You said by the end of this month you wanted to return home. We are almost halfway through October." Aelita frowned, "I didn't think it was going to take so long to find all the information."

**"**Relax Aelita; it will be all over soon." Jeremy smiled as he unscrewed a section of the upper computer base and started pulling wires to the side being careful not to dislodge anything.

**"**Are you seeing anything?" Aelita asked as she crossed her arms.

**"**Not yet, it is probably going to take a few days to actually locate where in the computer it is." Jeremy said as he set the panel back in place.

**"**In my Dad's journal, did he write any directions on where he placed it?" Aelita asked.

**"**You know just how vague your father was in all of that. Do you think he was going to openly write the location of a top secret item that is very far advanced for its age?" Jeremy asked, "If you want to attempt to decode the journal for that kind of information you can."

**"**So are we still on for Saturday?" Aelita asked randomly.

**"**Saturday…" Jeremy paused, "Yes, though there have been some slight changes in the approach. But yes we are still on. You and I are going to take the day off from working here."

Aelita smiled slightly, "after we get everything downloaded how much work do you think we are going to need to do to finish it off?"

**"**You have completing this on your mind. Don't you?"

**"**Of course I do, once it is completed back at FLAG I can be reunited with my mother." Aelita said softly.

**"**Well there is going to be a lot of work to sync the core back to the body. But before that I am going to have to run tests on it to make sure that we didn't accidentally download some of the XANA files and such. When this core was programmed it was done so with very specific set of codes and safety protocols. I need to make sure that none of them were damaged or removed."

**"**What kind of protocols?" Aelita inquired.

**"**Well Sarah seems to think this one has a similar protocol to the newer model that has been commissioned in the fact that it will do everything in its power to preserve human life." Jeremy nodded.

**"**So it isn't like XANA and won't try to kill me?" Aelita asked curiously.

**"**No, it can't do anything of the sort." Jeremy explained.

Aelita paced the length of the computer lab. "Jeremy, you said that by the end of the month you would be done!"

**"**Aelita, I know we are coming down to crunch time here." Jeremy mumbled from inside the computer.

**"**Crunch time should have happened last week, not on the thirtieth of October." Aelita scowled.

**"**So I miscalculated a few days." Jeremy pulled himself out of the hole in the panelling and went to the computer screen.

**"**Yes well, I have a legitimate excuse to wanting to leave Kadic with you." Aelita frowned as she looked at the screen.

**"**Well you will be happy to know that I have isolated the entire core and now all I have to do is download the files to the core." Jeremy smiled.

**"**Can I issue the download?" Aelita asked as she slid into the chair.

**"**I guess you can." Jeremy threw his hands up, "I just hope this works."

**"**I am prepared to go back inside Lyoko if this doesn't work and download the files manually." Aelita nodded as she pressed the enter key and entered her password into the computer.

An error message popped onto the screen and Jeremy cursed.

**"**Something is wrong with the code." Aelita frowned

**"**I want to run a few diagnostics before you jump inside Lyoko to do the download." Jeremy jumped into the seat while he downloaded some of the error information to his own laptop.


	11. Chapter 11

**"**Jeremy it has been three days and we still have not gone back to the lab to finish our work." Aelita whispered as she sat on Jeremy's bed.

**"**I can't talk about it here." Jeremy shook his head, "We will go tomorrow after classes and I will show you the results."

**"**Something has gone wrong, hasn't it?" Aelita frowned as Odd and Ulrich showed up at the door as they had been heading back to their room.

**"**I don't believe it, this is two days in a row that our friends turned lovebirds have been in the dorms before dinner." Ulrich laughed as he wandered into the room he shared with Odd.

**"**Something doesn't seem right though. Even I can see that they are hiding something other than their relationship and Aelita seems on edge as if she is waiting for something to happen." Odd explained.

Jeremy ran around the super computer unplugging wires and reconnecting them to different ports. "If this works for the download then we don't have to worry about you having to risk a trip to Lyoko because I can't guarantee that once the core is downloaded I will be able to de-virtualize you. From my all most recent tests the only thing keeping the supercomputer and Lyoko alive is the core's integration with the system. Basically your father built the computer around the core but instead of giving the Core's personality control he introduced Xana to the mix." Jeremy described what he hoped was going to happen and explained why as Aelita sat in the control chair and fiddled with her bag.

**"**Jeremy I am just nervous. I mean I have been excited about everything but suddenly it seems like everything is so final and I am going to be leaving everything I remember knowing." Aelita replied. Everything was hitting home and she was alternating between having butterflies and being excited for the changes in her life.

**"**Everything will be alright once we get settled." Jeremy assured her as he connected the last wire. "Alright do you want to try the download again?"

Aelita pressed the keys to begin the download and watched as it slowly progressed.

**"**Alright I am going to go upstairs and call Sarah why don't you head back to school. If the download is successful we should be able to leave in a day or two. It is going to be a slow download because of how I am going to have to do it." Jeremy frowned.

**"**Alright Jeremy." Aelita frowned as she jumped down and wrung her hands next to her skirt.

Aelita made it back to school just as everyone was headed to dinner and Ulrich grabbed her shoulder. "Where's Einstein?"

**"**His cousin called, he had to take the call, said it sounded like an emergency." Aelita said giving one of the cover stories.

**"**Yeah he has been weird ever since something happened with his family. First this cousin he never talked about starts calling and then he nearly dropped out of school. Now you start following him everywhere like a lost puppy, and I mean even more than before."

**"**I have just been trying to help. Jeremy wants to be with his cousin more than anything." Aelita frowned at her friends questioning statements that weren't new to her; everyone had been criticizing her and Jeremy's choices.

Just as Aelita sat down at the table with her food Jeremy walked into the cafeteria and looked around as he got into line for his food.

By the time Jeremy had sat down Yumi had joined them as well having gotten a visitor's pass to spend some time with Ulrich that evening.

**"**So I know you were all curious after the brief visit here at the beginning of the school year but I just got off the phone with my cousin and she announced that she was here in France. Apparently she had some business and she will be coming by here tomorrow morning."

Aelita gave Jeremy a very questioning look.

**"**I really don't know Aelita, I know she was going to wait for us to visit before she did anything drastic but I guess she changed her agenda when she had this surprise trip to France."

**"**Wait? This is the first time either of you have mentioned visiting anyone together?" Ulrich spit his food out.

**"**It is?" Aelita asked covering for Jeremy.

**"**I thought I had mentioned that she was going with me for the Christmas holiday this year." Jeremy finished.

Odd laughed, "Leave it to the absent-minded Einstein to forget to tell us, his friends, his holiday plans."

Aelita waited with Jeremy in front of the school gates for Sarah to arrive. Apparently Sarah had called ahead and gotten permission to take the two of them out to breakfast or so the email Jeremy had woken up to stated.

Standing there in the cold they waved as Yumi walked past headed to her high school. Yumi waved back but didn't stop to chat.

Sarah pulled up to the front gate in a rental car and unlocked the doors so the two of them could climb in before greeting them. "How are you guys this morning?"

**"**Surprised by the bluntness of this visit, Sarah." Jeremy frowned from the passenger seat.

**"**I wounded up with some down time and decided to come here and make sure everything went smoothly. I have been alright with you guys bringing the core home however I would be more at ease if you two finished off the term." Sarah said bluntly, "I can take the core with me and then you can stay with me during the holidays and then we can go from there."

**"**Sarah you promised, I could come home once I finished this assignment. Stop trying to push me away like Dad always did. You need me especially once we get the two thousand operational you are going to need a third tech person." Jeremy complained.

**"**I also want to come home as soon as possible, Sarah. I want to know more about my mother." Aelita said leaning from the back seat.

**"**Alright, the truth is I can't hide you both at the same time at this point. Too many fingers would be pointed if two students went missing on the same day from this school." Sarah sighed, "I can take Jeremy and then at Christmas time I can take you, Aelita, secretly I was hoping that the extraction process you had been describing to me would take longer but it didn't and there is still a month left till Christmas time."

**"**I understand and I think I can wait one month longer." Aelita said biting her lip in silent agony over having to wait.

**"**I promise that I will get you home as soon as possible and maybe even be able to get you a special position at FLAG." Sarah said as she pulled the car into the restaurant, "inside the restaurant we need to keep the conversation casual though."

Aelita and Jeremy nodded and followed Sarah into the restaurant.

Upon returning to the school Sarah went to go talk to Principal Delmas and explain that she was going to have to pull Jeremy from classes and she presented the principal with paperwork that stated she had signatures from Jeremy's 'parents'.

In the end of the discussion Mr Delmas signed off on the paper work but announced that Jeremy would be welcome to finish the term off with correspondence work given the circumstances that had been told to him.

**"**Thank you, I am sure Jeremy will much appreciate the opportunity rather than try to pick up the last month of the term at a local school." Sarah nodded.

Ulrich leaned across the aisle to Aelita, "Where is Jeremy, we haven't seen him since you two went to breakfast this morning?"

**"**His cousin's visit wasn't social; she came to pull him from school. She has his parent's blessing to take him home with her so he can help out the family business. He is in his room packing." Aelita frowned as she bit back the tears that she felt were coming.

At lunch Jeremy walked in with Sarah and they each got a tray. "I convinced Sarah to try the food here to get her opinion on it." Jeremy said trying to put some humor into the situation.

**"**Yes, Jeremy keeps telling me about the food here and I don't believe that it could be as bad as some of you say." Sarah laughed as she sat with them all.

Odd looked her up and down, "Are you really sure that you don't have a sister?"

**"**I am sure; I am the only daughter in my family." Sarah said choosing her words carefully so that she technically wasn't lying to them.

**"**When do you guys leave?" Aelita asked Jeremy.

**"**Sarah's and my flight leaves at five." Jeremy informed the group.

**"**Darn, that means Yumi misses out meeting you again." Ulrich frowned. She didn't believe us the last time you visited."

**"**Well for the time being Jeremy is going to remain doing work via correspondence. We will see where it all goes for next term but if it works out he and I will be back in the spring for graduation." Sarah nodded, "I am sure we can arrange something at that time. And Aelita you are still welcome to come for Christmas, I can have someone fly over and get you and I can't wait either, it will be so much fun having you at our home. Just be sure to stay away from Zoe's Fruit cake."

**"**Who is Zoe?" Odd asked desperate for a date.

**"**Zoe is Sarah's housemate and assistant in the family business." Jeremy said watering down the truth, "and no, you can't date her either."

**"**Ahh man!" Odd said striking out.


	12. Epilogue

Aelita set down her suitcase and stared at everything and she had just barely stepped out of KITT so all she saw was the KITT cave and the balcony.

Jeremy came running out of an office and down the stairs to hug Aelita. "The last month wasn't too painful for you, was it?"

**"**No it was alright, although Yumi was upset that I didn't want to stay with her and her family this year."

Jeremy laughed, "You will be happy to know that we have waited for you to put the core into the shell. I have spent the last month testing it over and over again. Sarah wants to speak to you in her office and then I will introduce you to everyone and show you to your room." Jeremy took her suitcase and led her to Sarah's office.

Aelita started to knock but Sarah waved her in before she could make contact with the door frame.

**"**Have a seat, Aelita. I want you to fill me in on everything and then I will discuss how we will be proceeding with everything about you staying here." Sarah said laying everything out on the table.

Aelita began to explain everything that she remembered happening to her starting with her father going crazy and ending with Jeremy freeing her from the super computer. She left out the others names but she had a feeling that Sarah knew their identities.

**"**It is going to be different but I can fill you in on a lot of your blank spots in your memory from before the exile. I also have been researching everything relating to the cover identity my brother gave you. Aelita Stones never really existed and I am surprised no one caught on about your faked existence, my brother is smart but he didn't cover his tracks very well." Sarah said as she pulled out a folder.

**"**What is this?" Aelita took the folder.

**"**Your new identity." Sarah nodded as Aelita opened the file.

**"**Aelita Knight?" Aelita read down the cover page before flipping in a few pages.

**"**Part of the reason I couldn't have you come with us a month ago was because it takes time without an official government organization to procure all these documents."

**"**This is going to be mailed to your permanent file in a few days back in France if you approve of all the changes." Sarah said handing another folder to Aelita.

Aelita took the folder and looked at the one before closing it fast. "A death certificate?"

**"**To officially close the door on Aelita Stones. To allow you to become a Knight you must die on paperwork. It is the only way to make sure your past doesn't sneak up on you." Sarah nodded as she took the folder back, "Give it a few days to think it over and when you are ready I will have the certificate dated and sent out."

**"**I am ready for whatever changes need to be done!" Aelita nodded.

Sarah nodded, "Alright, I will still wait a few days; we need to make it look realistic."

**"**I understand, Can I go with Jeremy now?" Aelita asked.

**"**Of course, and take the folder with you, but remember you can't use or act on any of the information in that folder until the death certificate is dated." Sarah informed as Aelita headed to the door.

Aelita walked out to the hall and smiled at Jeremy.

Jeremy eyed the folder. "What is that?"

**"**My new life!" Aelita exclaimed.


End file.
